Throughout my public service career, I’ve always held great respect for the journalists who cover the State Capitol. While we all have heard a lot about “fake news” at the national level, I think the local media outlets typically try hard to accurately report the facts in their coverage of state government.
However, on Nov. 28, this newspaper’s chief political reporter wrote a story with the headline, "Louisiana pays less for taxes and auto insurance, analysts say." In the piece, he cites an online, out-of-state analysis that put our state’s average auto insurance premium at $985. As Louisiana’s sole elected official charged with regulating the insurance industry, I can tell you with absolute certainty that the figure the reporter used has absolutely no basis in reality. Read more...